ECONOMICS UNIQUENESS

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developers, families buying houses, and businesses seeking central locations—
may face several constraints to taking action in heritage conservation. Th e most
signifi cant is the real (or perceived) commercial risk that they confront in deteriorated,
abandoned, or overused historic city cores. Private investors and property
owners may not have suffi cient incentives or the capacity to address the
complex problem of reversing deterioration or halting a downward trend. 1 In
addition, property owners and developers have traditionally opposed the listing
of urban properties and areas as historic because of concerns about restrictions
on property development such listing can bring. Oft en at the time of listing,
there is little clarity on the long-term urban development consequences of
enforcement of listing requirements; in particular, property owners may worry
about how such restrictions might aff ect their ability to develop their properties
(OMA 2010).
As discussed above, the local authority, as the only actor with a long-term
commitment is, in principle, capable of launching a regeneration process by
investing in the rehabilitation of infrastructure and public spaces, and in the conservation
and development of heritage buildings. In fact, it should be noted that
correcting market failures that lead to the undersupply of conserved space for
multiple uses in historic city cores and preservation of the public goods supplied
by urban heritage areas are becoming central concerns of local governments.
Public agencies are usually rallied to take this on by constituencies interested in
the conservation of their urban heritage. Alas, not many local administrations
have the capacity to undertake these types of activities.
Progress in Urban Heritage Conservation in Latin America
In Latin America, historians, artists, intellectuals, and some architects practicing
within the principles of the modern movement were the fi rst to call attention to
the threats to buildings of historic or artistic interest in the rapidly growing cities
of the region. For instance, in Brazil and Mexico, as early as the 1930s, such
citizens were pressing for the conservation of urban colonial and eclectic buildings
and archaeological and historic sites threatened by urban renewal schemes
or looting. Th ey lobbied politicians for the passage of heritage conservation
legislation and led the establishment of government institutions devoted to the
protection of the heritage, such as the National Institute of Historic and Artistic
Heritage of Brazil (IPHAN) and the National Institute of Anthropology and History
of Mexico (INAH). To date, most Latin American countries have at least
some legislation protecting the urban heritage as well as institutions implementing
this legislation; a few countries have also initiated public actions geared to
supporting the long-term conservation of this heritage.